China Is About To Break Its Own Record For The Largest Wind Farm – And It Could Plan 13 Million Homes

A Chinese city has announced plans to construct the world’s largest offshore wind farm, with the capacity to power more than 13 million homes.

The 43.3-gigatonne (GW) project was revealed in Chaozhou, China’s Guangdong province, in its five-year plan, which was published online on Friday. The facility will span more than 10 kilometers across the Taiwan Strait, where the wind is said to be strong enough to power turbines 43-49 % of the time.

According to the US Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Chinese wind farm could power 4.3 billion LED lights. However, the cost of the project was not mentioned in the five-year plan.

Renewable energy has been a critical component of President Xi Jinping’s mission to transition away from carbon-emitting power sources and establish China as a renewable energy superpower.

“We will work actively and prudently toward the goals of reaching peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality,” he said during his opening address to Congress.

“Based on China’s energy and resource endowments, we will advance initiatives to reach peak carbon emissions in a well-planned and phased way, in line with the principle of getting the new before discarding the old.”

China added 17GW of offshore wind generation capacity in 2021, more than any other country in the world combined over the previous five years.

Despite its progress, China remains the world’s most polluting country, with a comparatively modest net zero target of 2060.